Since Dominican citizens traveling to the United Kingdom must apply for a visa, Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit still hopes to reach an agreement with the latter.
Due to migration and border security reasons, in July of last year, the UK imposed visa restrictions on Dominican citizens and four other countries, including Namibia, Honduras, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu, VisaGuide.World reports.
4 Nationalities Must Obtain a Direct Airside Transit Visa to Transit via the UK
When the changes took effect, citizens from the above countries were subject to visas to enter Britain for ordinary visits with a maximum duration of six months. At the same time, they were also required to obtain a transit visa to transit through UK airports to reach the country of destination.
As UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman explained, the regime was imposed on Honduras and Namibia because of “a sustained and significant increase in the number of UK asylum applications being made by these nationals.
The decision to impose these visa requirements has been taken solely for migration and border security reasons and is not a sign of poor relations with these countries.
Dominica is among a small number of Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries with a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program. This program grants foreign investors island citizenship in exchange for significant investment in the country’s socio-economic development.
In this regard, the country’s Prime Minister believes that it is essential for the sustainability, improvement and transparency of the program that Dominica continues with its ongoing actions to improve the CBI.
All things considered, and given the tone of the engagement with the UK government over the last several months, I am satisfied that at some point, we will see visa-free travel to the United Kingdom and, of course, some of the additional actions, which are actions they did not ask for.
Moreover, Dominica has recently taken actions concerning the CBI program, including signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with other countries within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), namely St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St. Kitts.
The Memorandum of Understanding outlines the essential agreements between participating CBI countries, including the exchange of best practices and due diligence processes, establishing a minimum threshold of USD 200,000, reflecting actual funds received, and exchanging information on applicants.